Kilimanjaro Winter 2007-2008 Cybercast

December 27, 2007
Howdy Folks, this is Mark Fisher calling in for a report on Team Bear on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. Currently we are camped right below the Barranco Wall. Ahead of us we can see the great and famous Breach Wall. It’s been a beautiful but arduous day as we traveled from our Shira Camp up the lava tower and down to our current camp, Barranco Camp. It was a great day folks definitely felt the rigors of what is altitude aside from the longest day on the mountain. Half our group made the ascent of lava tower while the other half decided to continue to head down and make it back to camp just in time to avoid a rainfall shower. All are doing well yet tired. And everyone is wrapped up in their bags trying to get some sleep for the night. It has been a great trip so far and team is having a really good time together, telling jokes, bonding and making the most of the rest of our days on the mountain. Looking forward to more reports tomorrow and I hope that everyone out there is tuning in and doing well. Take care.

December 26, 2007
It’s an awesome day on Kili. Overall, the team is doing very well. Going from Machame to Shira camp is one of our shorter days so we got a slighter later start after devouring our breakfast of fresh coffee, fruit, eggs, toast, oatmeal and sausage, we set out. The hike is interesting and offers incredible views. We left the forest zone and traveled through the foggy, primeval feeling of another zone, heather zone, to our next camp at 12,700 ft which lies in the moorland zone. Feels like walking on the moon with dominant vegetation being the giant acacias and trees. Despite having great weather thus far, it’s currently raining and we’ll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. Most of our team relaxed in camp this afternoon but a few of us opted to take a short day hike and stretch our legs. We finally agreed upon a team name, Team Bear and it will be our guiding inspiration. Steve and Chris send their love to Nena and Papa. Take care everyone out there and more adventures to come tomorrow.

December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas it’s been a non-traditional year but a highly memorable Christmas for this Kili team. Hiding presents under the tree and relaxing with coffee we loaded the jeeps and drove 2 miles to the Machame Trailhead. Instead of lounging all day and napping in the afternoon we hiked for 6 hours and gained 4000 ft. of elevation to our present camp, the Machame Camp located at roughly 10,000ft. Our feet skipped the roof landing and mint jelly instead we enjoyed steaks, homemade cucumber soup, fresh steamed carrots, beans, homemade French fries and homemade chocolate cake. It was an unbelievable day. We managed to avoid the rain and the stars are now out and the night is gorgeous. It’s nine o’ clock and everyone is tired and fed, satisfied and comfortably set up in their tents. They would like to send all their love and well wishes to their friends and family on Christmas Day. Here are a few special greetings from some of our members. Hey Mom and Alex, Merry Christmas. Love you, Clare and Dad. Love to the Cody Family in Pepper Collins from Steve and Chris. El, Mom, Leah and the Huchitals, Merry Christmas. El, we’ll see you in a few days. Bill No-Bag (that’s from Brad). Merry Christmas from Kili to Mom and Dad, Bo, Sis, Lindsey, Hock, Cy, Brody and Banks. That’s it for now folks, we’ll talk tomorrow.

December 24, 2007
Hello cyberworld, this is Mark Fisher calling in for the first cybercast of the 2007-2008 Kilimanjaro winter season. Our first trip is upon us and our group of intrepid climbers arrived last night, excited, weary but ready for the adventures ahead. We had a great day and took the day to relax preparing ourselves for the next couple of weeks, we did some gear checks and hang out with eachother and kick our feet up by the pool. It was nice to be able to recover from the long flight and have some time to prep for our trip on the mountain tomorrow. We had a great Christmas Eve dinner and everyone in the group is sending out a lot of love to their family and friends out there tuning in and that they can’t be with during Christmas. We will leave tomorrow from the hotel and head out to the Machame Trailhead, where we will begin our climb and we look forward to giving everyone updates from our climb starting tomorrow. Merry Christmas to all tuning in and everyone from Team 1 is sending their love from Arusha and looking forward to sharing stories. Take care.